Euro 2020 is almost here and, barring injuries (and, of course, infections!), the squads have been finalised. It looks like it is going to be a wide-open tournament in our opinion and that is a view backed up by the bookies’ prices. At the time of writing, France, England and Belgium are all generally available at odds of around 5/1 or 6/1, with at least some bookies also pricing Germany, Spain, Portugal and Italy at single-digit prices. With Netherlands available at odds of around 12/1 and some tipping Denmark (28/1) as the dark horses, picking the winning nation is no easy task.
What we can guarantee, or at least be almost certain of, is that come the trophy presentation at Wembley on the 11th July, a Premier League player will get their hands on the Henri Delaunay Trophy. All 24 teams submitted their expanded 26-man squads to UEFA at the start of June and almost all of them have players from the Premier League.
There have been some surprises, of course – who could imagine Spain naming a squad with no Real Madrid players in it? But it was no real surprise that there were a host of EPL stars named. But which Premier League team has the most players at Euro 2020? We’ll answer that key question, as well as also providing further analysis of the squads, so read on for the lowdown as delayed Euros tournament finally rolls around.
Premier League Teams with Most Players at Euros
There are lots of clubs around the world sending multiple players to the Euros. Some are more surprising than others, with relative minnows, such as Dynamo Kiev (11 players) and Dinamo Zagreb (eight representatives), among the clubs with the most players named in squads. This makes more sense when you consider that these are among the biggest clubs in Ukraine and Croatia respectively and many of the players in the national squads are based at home.
Less of a surprise is that Premier League clubs have players from a whole host of nations. Footballers who earn their megabucks in the EPL will be turning out for England, Wales and Scotland, as well as Spain, Sweden, France, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Croatia, Belgium, Netherlands, Ukraine, Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, North Macedonia (subject to Egzijan Alioski remaining at Leeds), Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland and Turkey. In fact, the only nation not to feature a player from the Premier League is Russia! (Note, we are using the teams competing in the 2021-22 season as it suits our argument a fraction better!)
It should also come as little surprise that it is the top flight’s big boys who lead the way. Chelsea and Man City, who contested the 2021 Champions League final and finished fourth and first in the Premier League respectively, are top of the pile. The table below shows you which of the other PL elite will be sending the most players to Euro 2020.
Information correct as of 9/6/21
| Club | Number of Players | Players |
|---|---|---|
| Chelsea | 16 | Jorginho (Italy), Emerson (Italy), Michy Batshuayi (Belgium), Andreas Christensen (Denmark), Mateo Kovacic (Croatia), Mason Mount (England), Ben Chilwell (England), Reece James (England), Billy Gilmour (Scotland), Cesar Azpilicueta (Spain), Olivier Giroud (France), N’Golo Kante (France), Kurt Zouma (France), Antonio Rudiger (Germany), Kai Havertz (Germany), Timo Werner (Germany) |
| Man City | 15 | Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium), Nathan Ake (Netherlands), Oleksandr Zinchenko (Ukraine), Kyle Walker (England), John Stones (England), Raheem Sterling (England), Phil Foden (England), Ferran Torres (Spain), Eric Garcia (Spain), Rodri (Spain), Aymeric Laporte (Spain), Ilkay Gundogan (Germany), Ruben Dias (Portugal), Bernardo Silva (Portugal), Joao Cancelo (Portugal) |
| Man United | 10 | Daniel James (Wales), Luke Shaw (England), Harry Maguire (England), Marcus Rashford (England), Dean Henderson (England), Scott McTominay (Scotland), David de Gea (Spain), Victor Lindelof (Sweden), Paul Pogba (France), Bruno Fernandes (Portugal) |
| Spurs | 8 | Ben Davies (Wales), Joe Rodon (Wales), Gareth Bale (Wales), Toby Alderweireld (Belgium), Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Denmark), Harry Kane (England), Hugo Lloris (France), Moussa Sissoko (France) |
| Leicester | 7 | Timothy Castagne (Belgium), Dennis Praet (Belgium), Youri Tielemans (Belgium), Kasper Schmeichel (Denmark), Çağlar Söyüncü (Turkey), Cengiz Ünder (Turkey), Danny Ward (Wales) |
| Leeds | 7 | Kalvin Phillips (England), Robin Koch (Germany), Egzijan Alioski (North Macedonia), Mateusz Klich (Poland), Liam Cooper (Scotland), Diego Llorente (Spain) and Tyler Roberts (Wales) |
| Liverpool | 7 | Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland), Neco Williams (Wales), Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands)*, Jordan Henderson (England), Andrew Robertson (Scotland), Thiago Alcantara (Spain), Diogo Jota (Portugal) |
NB – *Wijnaldum is expected to leave Liverpool but at the time of writing remains one of their players
As we can see, Chelsea, who won the Champions League, lead the way with 16, whilst City are just behind and can boast of having 15 players representing their nations at Euro 2020. Almost all pundits would agree that these clubs had the two best squads in the top flight, despite Chelsea finishing in fourth, and this is something backed up by this stat.
Of course, some of Liverpool’s best players, notably Mo Salah, Roberto Firminho, Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk, will not be going but even so, it does feel that the table above really is a fair reflection of where the squads are at.
How About the Other Premier League Sides?
The teams above finished last season fourth, first, second, seventh, fifth, ninth and third respectively but of course it is not just the Premier League’s big boys who are sending multiple players to the Euros. Below we can see some of the other stars of the English top flight who will be playing at this year’s delayed European Championships.
- West Ham (finished sixth, five players) – Vladimír Coufal and Tomáš Souček (both Czech Republic), Declan Rice (England), Łukasz Fabiański (Poland) and Andriy Yarmolenko (Ukraine)
- Arsenal (finished eighth, four players) – Bukayo Saka (England), Bernd Leno (Germany), Kieran Tierney (Scotland) and Granit Xhaka (Switzerland)
- Everton (finished 10th, three players) – Jordan Pickford and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (both England), and Lucas Digne (France)
Aside from those teams, who all finished in the top 10 of the 2020-21 Premier League season, there are a number of other potential stars of the Euros provided by other Premier League clubs. Aston Villa, for example, will be represented by Tyrone Mings, Jack Grealish and John McGinn. Newcastle are sending four players to the tournament, whilst Wolves have that many in the Portugal squad alone! Keeper Rui Patrício will join Nélson Semedo, João Moutinho and Rúben Neves alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and co.
Indeed, Wolves have a total of seven players heading to the tournament, with Palace boasting three (four if you include Michy Batshuayi who has been on loan from Chelsea and isn’t included in their total above). Saints and Brighton will also be represented by four players at Euro 2020, whilst Burnley will have just Matěj Vydra on international duty (for Czech Republic).
Of the three sides who were relegated from the Premier League last season, Fulham have two of their players featuring, as do West Brom (including England’s Sam Johnstone) and Sheffield United. It is perhaps telling that Norwich, who won the Championship at a canter and will play in the top flight come August, will have four players at the Euros, with fellow new boys (well, as new as you can be given both were in the EPL the season before last) Watford represented by Ken Sema (Sweden) and Austrian goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann. Brentford, who booked their 2021-22 Premier League place via the playoffs will actually have five of their players turning out at Euro 2020, with four of those coming from Nordic nations Sweden, Finland and Denmark.
What Other Clubs Have the Most Players at the Euros?
Now we have detailed all of the Premier League players who will feature at Euro 2020, what about players from other clubs? Can any side match, or even better, Chelsea and City’s tally of 15? In short, no. Bayern come up just short, with the 2020 Champions League winners boasting of 14 players from their squad having been named in their nation’s squad for the Euros. Details of the 10 best-represented non-Premier League clubs are below:
| Club | Number of Players | Players |
|---|---|---|
| Bayern Munich | 14 | David Alaba (Austria), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Benajmin Pavard (France), Corentin Tolisso (France), Kingsley Coman (France), Lucas Hernandez (France), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Joshua Kimmich (Germany), Serge Gnabry (Germany), Jamal Musiala (Germany), Niklas Sule (Germany), Leon Goretzka (Germany), Leroy Sane (Germany), Thomas Muller (Germany) |
| Juventus | 12 | Giorgio Chiellini (Italy), Federico Chiesa (Italy), Leonardo Bonucci (Italy), Federico Bernardeschi (Italy), Merih Demiral (Turkey), Aaron Ramsey (Wales), Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands), Wojciech Szczesny (Poland), Alvaro Morata (Spain), Dejan Kulusevski (Sweden), Adrien Rabiot (France), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) |
| Dynamo Kiev | 11 | Heorhiy Bushchan (Ukraine), Serhiy Sydorchuk (Ukraine), Mykola Shaparenko (Ukraine), Illya Zabarnyi (Ukraine), Viktor Tyshankov (Ukraine), Vitaliy Mykolenko (Ukraine), Artem Besyedin (Ukraine), Oleksandr Karavayev (Ukraine), Oleksandr Tymchuk (Ukraine), Denys Popov (Ukraine), Tomasz Kedziora (Poland) |
| Borussia Dortmund | 10 | Manuel Akanji (Switzerland), Axel Witsel (Belgium), Thomas Meunier (Belgium), Thorgan Hazard (Belgium), Thomas Delaney (Denmark), Jadon Sancho (England), Jude Bellingham (England), Mats Hummels (Germany), Emre Can (Germany), Raphael Guerreiro (Portugal) |
| Borussia Monchengladbach | 10 | Yann Sommer (Switzerland), Nico Elvedi (Switzerland), Denis Zakaria (Switzerland), Breel Embolo (Switzerland), Stefan Lainer (Austria), Valentino Lazaro (Austria), Marcus Thuram (France), Matthias Ginter (Germany), Jonas Hofmann (Germany), Florian Neuhaus (Germany) |
| RB Leipzig | 9 | Yussuf Poulsen (Denmark), Marcel Sabitzer (Austria), Konrad Laimer (Austria), Dani Olmo (Spain), Emil Forsberg (Sweden), Marcel Halstenberg (Germany), Lukas Klostermann (Germany), Peter Gulacsi (Hungary), Willi Orban (Hungary) |
| Atalanta | 9 | Matteo Pessina (Atalanta), Rafael Toloi (Italy), Remo Freuler (Switzerland), Joakim Maehle (Denmark), Aleksei Miranchuk (Russia), Marten de Roon (Netherlands), Ruslan Malinovskyi (Ukraine), Mario Pasalic (Croatia), Robin Gosens (Germany) |
| Inter Milan | 8 | Nicolo Barella (Italy), Alessandro Bastoni (Italy), Romelu Lukaku (Belgium), Christian Eriksen (Denmark), Stefan de Vrij (Netherlands), Ivan Perisic (Croatia), Marcelo Brozovic (Croatia), Milan Skriniar (Slovakia) |
| Barcelona | 8 | Martin Braithwaite (Denmark), Frenkie de Jong (Netherlands), Sergio Busquets (Spain), Jordi Alba (Spain), Pedri (Spain), Clement Lenglet (France), Antoine Griezmann (France), Ousmane Dembele (France) |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 8 | Mario Gavranovic (Switzerland), Arijan Ademi (North Macedonia), Stefan Ristovski (North Macedonia), Dominik Livakovic (Croatia), Mislav Orsic (Croatia), Bruno Petkovic (Croatia), Josko Gvardiol (Croatia), Luka Ivanusec (Croatia) |
Dynamo Kiev, whose strong links to the Ukraine squad we mentioned earlier, will be providing almost 40% of that country’s 26-man group. Their 10-player delegation is the most players from a single team in any of the 24 national squads.
In addition, it is also perhaps noteworthy that Barcelona are so low down that list, with Real Madrid not featuring at all (the Spanish giants have seven players named in the various squads). Both clubs have often featured several Brazilians among their ranks, as well as players from other parts of the world. Whilst their relatively low number of players at Euro 2020 may be a fair reflection of how their standards have slumped, it perhaps does not tell the whole story.
Which Nation Draws the Most Players from the Premier League?
Thus far, we have looked at things from the point of view of the clubs, noting which teams have the most players at the Euros. However, it is also interesting to assess things from the other angle and ask which nations draw a lot of their international squads from England’s top flight. Note that the stats below are based on the teams who will play in the 2021-22 PL season.
Of course, it is no surprise that England lead the way. The current international squad actually has three players not based in England, which is more than has often been the case in the past. English players are now more comfortable moving abroad in order to gain more playing time (Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham at Dortmund are prime examples) or simply for a new experience (Kieran Trippier at Atlético Madrid). Even so, with 22 (as we have excluded West Brom’s Sam Johnstone) Premier League players, England tops this metric by some way.
Second, or first if we exclude England which may seem reasonable to many, comes Wales, who have 11 Premier League players among their group. That excludes Gareth Bale who remains a Real Madrid player despite being on loan at Spurs last term. You can see the 11 Wales players below, plus the other most-represented nations and their players. As well as the five teams to make our table, we also give notable mentions to France, with seven PL players in their squad, Germany and Netherlands (six) and Denmark and Poland (both five).
| Nation | Number of Players From EPL | Players |
|---|---|---|
| Wales | 11 | Wayne Hennessey (Crystal Palace), Danny Ward (Leicester City), Ethan Ampadu (Chelsea), Ben Davies (Tottenham), Joe Rodon (Tottenham), Neco Williams (Liverpool), Daniel James (Manchester United), Dylan Levitt (Manchester United), Matthew Smith (Manchester City), Tyler Roberts (Leeds Utd), Harry Wilson (Liverpool) |
| Scotland | 10 | Liam Cooper (Leeds), Grant Hanley (Norwich), Andy Robertson (Liverpool), Kieran Tierney (Arsenal), Stuart Armstrong (Southampton), Ryan Fraser (Newcastle United), Billy Gilmour (Chelsea), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Scott McTominay (Manchester United), Ché Adams (Southampton) |
| Spain | 10 | David de Gea (Manchester United), Robert Sánchez (Brighton & Hove Albion), Aymeric Laporte (Manchester City), Eric García (Manchester City), Diego Llorente (Leeds United), César Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Thiago Alcántara (Liverpool), Rodri (Manchester City), Ferran Torres (Manchester City), Adama Traoré (Wolves) |
| Belgium | 9 | Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham), Timothy Castagne (Leicester), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Leander Dendoncker (Wolves), Dennis Praet (Leicester), Youri Tielemans (Leicester), Michy Batshuayi (Chelsea), Christian Benteke (Crystal Palace), Leandro Trossard (Brighton) |
| Portugal | 9 | Rui Patrício (Wolves), João Cancelo (Manchester City), Rúben Dias (Manchester City), Nélson Semedo (Wolves), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), João Moutinho (Wolves), Rúben Neves (Wolves), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Diogo Jota (Liverpool) |